The Las Vegas Review Journal reports today that
Amonix, a California-based solar panel company
that has received more than $20 million in federal tax credits
and grants, has shut down its manufacturing plant in Northern Las
Vegas, just 14 months after it opened.

The company, which makes concentrating solar photovoltaic
technology, is the latest clean energy casualty of the Obama
adminstration's clean energy initiatives, which have become a
main target of Republicans since last year's Solyndra bankruptcy scandal.

According to the LVRJ, the Las Vegas manufacturing plant —
Amonix's largest manufacturing facility, has been idle since May,
and the company started selling off the factory equipment this
week. The company did not respond to Business Insider's calls for
comment today.

The plant, which opened in May 2011, was financed in part by $9.5
million in tax credits from the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act, according to the
company's website. The company also received $15.6
million in grant funding from the Department of Energy's Solar
America Initiative.

The news comes at an opportune moment for Republicans, as the
party's presidential nominee Mitt Romney attempts to move the
conversation away from his record at Bain Capital and his refusal to disclose more
tax returns.

Amonix confirmed Thursday that it has shut down its North Las
Vegas manufacturing facility, but clarified that no federal
dollars were spent to fund the project because the tax-credit the
company received from the government was never utilized.

Here is the statement:

Based on intense competition, the challenging solar energy
equipment pricing environment andlower than anticipated demand for CPV (concentrated
photovoltaic) solar energy in Nevada andother states in the U.S. southwest, Amonix has made the
difficult decision to restructure thecompany and shut down its manufacturing center in North Las
Vegas, NV.

• We appreciate the efforts that the city of North Las Vegas
and the state of Nevada made in workingwith us to make the facility successful. We looked at several
options and were really hoping that wecould keep the North Las Vegas manufacturing facility, but it
is not economically possible for Amonixat this time.

• As we work toward a successful long-term future, we are
adjusting our business and operationsplans to parallel changing market conditions.

• The current plan is for Amonix to vacate the North Las
Vegas factory by the first part of August,2012.

• The only federal incentive Amonix received for the North
Las Vegas facility was a $5.9 million federalmanufacturing incentive tax credit that was never utilized.
Tax credits can only be used to offsettaxable income, and Amonix has not realized taxable income to
utilize the tax credits. Thus, thosetax credits have not been claimed and have had no cost to
U.S. taxpayers.